Appendix D: Disproportionality of Marijuana Law Enforcement in Virginia by Locality (2015–2019)
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Appendixes Appendix D: Disproportionality of marijuana law enforcement in Virginia by locality (2015–2019) JLARC staff assessed disproportionality of marijuana law enforcement at the locality level from 2015– 2019. A five-year period was chosen instead of a 10-year period because this timeframe had the heav- iest enforcement of marijuana possession laws. From 2010–2014, there were 20,700 marijuana pos- session arrests statewide, on average, but from 2015–2019 there were 23,300 average annual arrests. Disproportionality was evaluated by comparing the Black arrest rate/rate of cases that were prose- cuted or otherwise proceeded in court to the white arrest rate/rate of cases that were prosecuted or otherwise proceeded in court for marijuana possession from 2015–2019. The resulting rates of dis- proportionality reflect how many times more likely a Black individual was to be arrested for marijuana possession or have his or her case proceed in court than a white individual within the same locality during this time period. Rates of cases that were prosecuted or otherwise proceeded in court were used instead of conviction rates because they are a better indicator of how strictly a locality is enforcing the law. Cases that pro- ceeded in court included all cases with a final disposition on the merits, including dismissed cases, but excluded “nolle prossed” cases. (Nolle prossed cases are those in which prosecutors requested that the charges be dropped.) Some commonwealth’s attorneys have implemented policies not to prosecute possession cases, and these decisions would not be adequately captured in conviction rates. A separate analysis using solely nolle prossed cases could be a good indicator of prosecutorial discretion across localities, but an insufficient number of nolle prossed cases made it difficult to draw any reliable con- clusions at the locality level. Racial disparities in marijuana law enforcement were found in every Virginia locality where there was sufficient data to make an assessment. Localities were determined to have insufficient data if they had fewer than 10 Black arrests/cases and/or less than 30 percent resident arrests/cases per year. Requir- ing a locality to have a minimum average of 10 Black arrests/cases per year ensures there is sufficient data upon which to draw meaningful conclusions about the disproportionality within that locality. Establishing a threshold of 30 percent resident arrests controls for localities that may be arresting a high proportion of non-residents, such as those traveling through on the interstate. Some of the dis- proportionality in these localities is likely overstated because many of the people arrested for mariju- ana possession were not residents of that locality. The 30 percent resident arrest threshold partially controls for this effect but does eliminate it. However, even if arrest rates are overstated in some localities, these localities still appear to be disproportional to some extent. A locality could have a high rate of disproportionality without having a high number of arrests or cases that proceed in court, and vice versa. For example, in Prince George County, Black individuals were nearly six times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, but only 56 Black individuals were arrested per year, on average. In contrast, in Prince William County, Black individuals were three times more likely to be arrested, with an average of over 700 Black arrests for marijuana possession each year. Commission draft 179 Appendixes TABLE D-1 Eighty-eight localities had disproportionate arrest rate ratios of Black to white individuals for marijuana possession from 2015–2019 Percent Percent Rate of Percent Black Average Black white Average White dispro- resident popula- Black rate popula- white rate portion- Locality arrests tion arrests per 1,000 tion arrests per 1,000 ality Accomack County 69 % 28 % 28 3.07 60 % 29 1.48 2.07 Albemarle County 68 9 56 5.50 77 56 0.68 8.11 Alexandria 49 22 200 5.77 52 63 0.76 7.57 Alleghany County 67 5 10 14.66 92 27 1.94 7.55 Amelia County 62 21 8 - 74 12 - - Amherst County 64 19 21 3.42 75 32 1.32 2.58 Appomattox County 81 19 10 3.24 77 13 1.09 2.96 Arlington County 36 9 219 10.52 62 108 0.75 14.01 Augusta County 82 4 12 3.65 91 40 0.59 6.23 Bath County 51 4 1 - 92 6 - - Bedford County 55 7 48 8.71 88 113 1.64 5.30 Bland County 30 4 4 - 94 12 - - Botetourt County 50 3 35 33.14 93 110 3.54 9.36 Bristol 38 6 4 - 89 37 - - Brunswick County 24 55 28 - 41 6 - - Buchanan County 88 3 0 - 95 17 - - Buckingham County 85 34 8 - 61 11 - - Buena Vista County 45 5 4 - 88 23 - - Campbell County 85 14 12 1.48 80 32 0.73 2.04 Caroline County 42 27 77 9.36 64 65 3.36 2.78 Carroll County 35 1 25 108.87 95 76 2.70 40.37 Charles City County 63 46 3 - 42 3 - - Charlotte County 49 28 5 - 68 7 - - Charlottesville 84 19 7 - 66 5 - - Chesapeake 53 29 632 8.93 58 233 1.69 5.29 Chesterfield County 67 23 798 10.09 62 532 2.50 4.03 Commission draft 180 Appendixes Clarke County 60 5 5 - 86 24 - - Colonial Heights 24 15 151 - 72 90 - - Covington 44 13 1 - 81 4 - - Craig County 46 0 0 - 97 4 - - Culpeper County 70 14 71 9.75 71 92 2.54 3.84 Cumberland County 69 31 5 - 63 9 - - Danville 67 50 196 9.46 42 60 3.43 2.76 Dickenson County 76 0 0 - 98 8 - - Dinwiddie County 36 32 22 2.37 62 10 0.57 4.19 Emporia 41 63 59 17.29 28 13 8.63 2.00 Essex County 51 38 12 2.81 55 8 1.29 2.17 Fairfax City 23 6 12 - 56 31 - - Fairfax County 68 10 1,230 11.05 51 1224 2.09 5.28 Falls Church 9 4 6 - 72 5 - - Fauquier County 48 7 46 8.79 80 90 1.61 5.46 Floyd County 85 2 0 - 93 15 - - Fluvanna County 71 15 11 2.85 78 23 1.10 2.58 Franklin City 56 57 13 2.69 37 3 0.93 2.88 Franklin County 66 8 65 14.69 87 173 3.52 4.17 Frederick County 58 4 20 5.65 83 68 0.94 6.03 Fredericksburg 39 23 89 13.49 60 73 4.29 3.14 Galax 51 6 3 - 75 29 - - Giles County 47 1 3 - 95 22 - - Gloucester County 66 8 28 9.42 85 71 2.23 4.22 Goochland County 59 16 4 - 78 6 - - Grayson County 66 5 3 - 90 24 - - Greene County 70 7 8 - 83 30 - - Greensville County 29 59 24 - 36 15 - - Halifax County 58 36 68 5.43 60 32 1.56 3.48 Hampton 64 49 366 5.50 38 77 1.47 3.73 Hanover County 30 9 377 39.08 84 235 2.65 14.75 Harrisonburg 65 7 51 13.33 66 141 4.01 3.33 Henrico County 64 30 675 6.92 53 232 1.33 5.21 Henry County 88 22 21 1.84 70 37 1.03 1.78 Highland County 47 1 0 - 97 1 - - Hopewell 75 41 29 3.17 46 7 0.65 4.87 Isle Of Wight County 41 23 40 4.79 71 28 1.08 4.43 James City County 60 13 74 7.57 76 83 1.45 5.21 Commission draft 181 Appendixes King and Queen County 54 26 17 9.11 66 21 4.42 2.06 King George County 46 16 24 5.80 74 26 1.35 4.30 King William County 59 16 5 - 77 9 - - Lancaster County 79 28 9 - 67 5 - - Lee County 72 4 0 - 93 12 - - Lexington 41 9 2 - 82 10 - - Loudoun County 74 7 151 5.23 56 252 1.13 4.62 Louisa County 78 16 21 3.62 78 35 1.26 2.88 Lunenburg County 70 33 17 4.26 59 12 1.67 2.55 Lynchburg 73 28 159 7.06 63 60 1.20 5.90 Madison County 47 9 10 8.58 85 23 2.06 4.16 Manassas 49 13 44 7.95 41 36 2.11 3.77 Manassas Park 49 13 31 13.92 33 36 6.34 2.20 Martinsville 58 46 43 7.21 44 23 4.02 1.79 Mathews County 75 9 2 - 86 7 - - Mecklenburg County 48 34 45 4.25 60 23 1.24 3.41 Middlesex County 41 17 2 - 78 3 - - Montgomery County 63 4 39 9.78 84 154 1.87 5.24 Nelson County 66 11 4 - 82 11 - - New Kent County 41 13 32 11.09 79 38 2.22 5.00 Newport News 84 41 400 5.49 43 72 0.93 5.90 Norfolk 80 41 482 4.81 44 91 0.86 5.61 Northampton County 51 34 9 - 54 7 - - Northumberland County 74 24 13 4.37 70 11 1.34 3.26 Norton 22 6 1 - 86 11 - - Nottoway County 61 39 19 3.10 54 9 1.05 2.95 Orange County 50 13 28 5.97 78 45 1.60 3.72 Page County 83 2 7 - 94 64 - - Patrick County 55 5 2 - 90 15 - - Petersburg 69 76 142 5.93 15 12 2.54 2.33 Pittsylvania County 76 21 13 1.02 74 20 0.45 2.30 Poquoson 62 1 4 - 91 17 - - Portsmouth 75 53 86 1.70 38 17 0.46 3.69 Commission draft 182 Appendixes Powhatan County 59 10 15 5.27 86 48 1.96 2.69 Prince Edward County 44 32 23 3.07 62 15 1.04 2.96 Prince George County 30 31 56 4.68 55 16 0.78 5.98 Prince William County 81 21 723 7.64 43 490 2.46 3.10 Pulaski County 56 5 14 8.10 91 51 1.64 4.96 Radford 47 9 50 31.35 83 100 6.76 4.64 Rappahannock County 35 4 4 - 89 24 - - Richmond City 73 48 272 2.51 41 37 0.40 6.35 Richmond County 59 29 14 5.38 61 8 1.41 3.81 Roanoke City 88 29 188 6.60 59 106 1.81 3.64 Roanoke County 40 6 82 15.01 86 186 2.30 6.52 Rockbridge County 42 3 38 55.97 92 111 5.33 10.49 Rockingham County 62 2 23 14.25 89 94 1.32 10.78 Russell County 75 1 2 - 97 31 - - Salem 40 7 34 18.47 86 92 4.25 4.35 Scott County 36 1 3 - 97 65 - - Shenandoah County 52 2 31 30.90 88 118 3.11 9.93 Smyth County 51 2 28 40.45 94 126 4.34 9.31 Southampton County 39 35 27 4.36 61 13 1.15 3.78 Spotsylvania County 66 16 159 7.53 68 182 2.00 3.77 Stafford County 65 18 181 6.87 62 165 1.82 3.78 Staunton 63 11 29 10.68 81 85 4.29 2.49 Suffolk 67 42 89 2.36 49 29 0.65 3.65 Surry County 31 42 3 - 53 4 - - Sussex County 33 57 20 3.10 38 7 1.65 1.88 Tazewell County 63 3 21 16.10 94 98 2.50 6.45 Virginia Beach 67 19 373 4.36 62 199 0.71 6.10 Warren County 60 5 26 14.03 87 95 2.75 5.09 Washington County 48 1 13 16.84 95 116 2.26 7.47 Waynesboro 70 12 8 - 75 20 - - Westmoreland County 63 26 30 6.55 64 25 2.17 3.02 Williamsburg 33 15 35 15.33 68 30 2.95 5.19 Winchester 41 11 35 11.74 66 87 4.73 2.48 Wise County 65 6 4 - 91 49 - - Commission draft 183 Appendixes Wythe County 33 3 37 46.84 94 106 3.90 12.00 York County 54 13 37 4.11 71 52 1.07 3.85 SOURCE: JLARC staff analysis using arrest data from the Virginia State Police.